Friday, April 11, 2014

Going Indie

For a
long time now, I have been contemplating where I fit in the publishing world.
For years and years, I have done my due diligence: I have written, edited,
re-edited a million times, been critiqued by my writing group, by agents and by
editors at major houses and smaller presses. I’ve gone to conferences and
networked, meeting some really amazing and artistic people. But in the last
couple of years I’ve realized that my story and, indeed some of the things I
want to accomplish as a writer, may not happen or not happen in the way I wish
it to. So a few months ago, I made the bold announcement on social media that I
am going Indie. It was a decision not made lightly.

Traditional
publishing is awesome, if you can get them to see you, read you, like what you’ve
written, and support where you want to go with your journey. The truth about
the traditional publishing route, is that for all the thousands upon thousands
of writers – published and not published – there are only so many slots
publishing houses fill each year, which means that the majority of writers will
never see their books placed with a major publisher’s house. That’s the truth.
A hard truth, but it is the reality for writers.

Right
now, I am pursuing the Middle-Grade (MG) genre. MG is the age range where – in
most cases – a child’s reading is influenced by their school curriculum.They are required to read the classics and read
award-winning books like those listed with the Newbury Medal and Honors (Congrats
Kate DiCamillo for her 2014 win!), which doesn’t leave many spots available for
MG writers.

With that
said, two amazing things have happened recently.

First, I
have created my own publishing company called Pug Paw Press.Pug Paw Press
is for my own work and will allow me to follow my writerly instincts.

It is my
platform to become the type of writer - Children’s Books and Adult Suspense/Romance
Novels - I wish to be. I even named my
website “Storyteller ~ of Tales & Tails” as my ode to the genres I love.
Tales (adult) and Tails (children) are me to a tee. Walking the lines of both
worlds with a shimmy and a shake.

Second, I have an Illustrator! I have an
awesome illustrator. Two actually. For the last five years, I have been watching
the artistry of Jet Kimchrea and more recently I have discovered the
awesomeness that is Courtney Howlett (aka Seage). I’ll write more about these
two when the book cover is complete, but trust me these two are making this
journey even more incredible.

So that’s
my announcement, and as I go through my process to publication I will write
about the experience, and the hard work of “going indie”. Every Friday I’ll
post (to LLC or not, putting your best
foot forward, marketing, etc.,) and the other big and little things you need to
know if you are doing things independently. No guarantees they will be long
posts, but if I can post to Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ frequently I can
keep a date with my own blog. Once a week.

Is anyone
else going or contemplating going Indie? Why or why not? Neither option is all
good or all bad. Going indie is just a way.